The invention relates to the field of computer systems. In particular, it relates to a computer system for matching leads with providers of goods or services such as, for example, credit products.
Service providers and vendors, such as banks, credit unions, automobile dealers, and the like, offer loan and credit products to their customers. These products may include automobile loans, home mortgage loans, personal loans, student loans, credit cards, and other such financial products. Those products may often fluctuate over time, so that interest rates, down payment amounts, loan criteria, and other parameters may vary from day to day. Additionally, service providers may offer a variety of products to consumers with different criteria. For example, loans at different interest rates may be offered to consumers with better or worse credit ratings, consumers at different income levels, consumers of different ages or occupations, and so on.
Traditionally, in order to find a loan or credit product, a consumer would shop around at various providers to compare the rates or products that each provider was willing to offer. Additionally, service providers may have used mass marketing techniques to advertise their products to potential new clients. However, such techniques have limited effectiveness, because they tend to flood consumers with information, making the decision-making process difficult and inefficient.